Everybody Loves Tuscany

The Wines of Tuscany Tuscan wine (Italian Toscana) is Italian wine from the Tuscany region. Located in central Italy along the Tyrrhenian coast, Tuscany is home to some of the world’s most notable wine regions. Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano are primarily made with Sangiovese grape whereas the Vernaccia grape is […]

Coffee Scene in Italy The coffee scene in Italy is very different than in America.   Going out with friends for coffee in the states would last at least an hour or more as we would sit and talk at a table. This can happen too in Italy, but sitting at a table will often cost […]

Porchetta Ingredients 5 kg higher-welfare boned porchetta (the loin and belly) , roughly 38cm, skin on (ask your butcher to butterfly and score the skin vertically at ½cm intervals) sea salt freshly ground black pepper 3 eating apples 4 carrots 2 red onions , peeled 2 heaped tablespoons plain flour 500 ml organic chicken stock […]

Sfogliatelle Ingredients Pastry 500 g plain flour 50 g sugar 6 g salt 200 ml water 150 g lard, softened Filling 900 ml water 130 g sugar, plus 60 g extra 6 g salt 310 g semolina vegetable oil 1.3 kg fresh ricotta 2 eggs 1 orange, rind grated 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped 1 […]

Mercato Centrale Firenze The Mercato Centrale (Central Market in English), or Mercato di San Lorenzo in Florence is located between via dell’Ariento, via Sant’Antonino, via Panicale and Piazza del Mercato Centrale. It is one of the results from the time of risanamento, the period when Florence was the capital of Italy in the late nineteenth […]

Homemade Italian Capocollo & Soppressata Capocollo (in the United States, cappicola, coppa in Canada, capicollo or capicolla), or coppa, is a traditional Italian pork cold cut(salume) made from the dry-cured muscle running from the neck to the 4th or 5th rib of the pork shoulder or neck. This cold cut is sometimes called coppa. The name capocollo comes from capo (“head”) and collo (“neck”) of a pig. It is a whole muscle salume, dry cured and, typically, […]

Making Capocollo in 5 minutes In its production, Capocollo is first lightly seasoned often with red and sometimes white wine, garlic, and a variety of herbs and spices that differ depending on region. The meat is then salted (and was traditionally massaged) and stuffed into a natural casing, and hung for up to six months […]

Stracciatella Soup Stracciatella (Italian pronunciation: [strattʃaˈtɛlla]; in Italian, a diminutive of straccia (“rag” or “shred”) meaning “a little shred”, coming from the verb “stracciare”, to tear; plural, stracciatelle) is a term used for three different types of Italian food: Stracciatella (soup), an egg drop soup which is popular in central Italy. Stracciatella (ice cream), a […]

Antica Macelleria Falorni  This macelleria is famous for prosciutto and also has a cheese cellar. Antica Macelleria Falorni is located in Piazza Matteotti in Greve in Chianti. Here’s a look at the prosciutto which is hanging from the ceiling around the store. If you wander around the store you will find a staircase to lead […]

Polpette Fritte Before coming to Italy, I had never eaten polpette fritte or fried meatballs without them being in sauce. In fact, I couldn’t even imagine eating them dry.  Now, I seem to be obsessed with them and whenever they are on the menu in a restaurant I just have to order them. Instead of […]